After a thrilling week at Wentworth, the next stop on the DP World Tour is Club de Campo in Madrid, which hosts the first of two events in Spain this year while The Presidents Cup sees the Americans try to dominate a star-studded International team in Canada.
Ben Smith breaks down the best bets for both tournaments.
Matthieu Pavon emerged victorious at the Open de Espana a year ago, going one better than in 2022 when he finished second to Jon Rahm, who is the favourite to triumph after being invited to compete at his ‘home’ Open.
Last year’s edition of Spain’s national open was the first since 2016 not to produce a Spanish winner. Club de Campo has tended to suit home players, particularly those who can find fairways with regularity. It is a surprise, then, that Adrian Otaegui’s form at the venue reads 28-17-61. Last year, he was the most accurate driver on the Tour, and in 2024 only Shane Lowry has hit a higher percentage of fairways.
Otaegui drove the ball superbly on Sunday at the BMW PGA Championship as he shot a 66 to move into the top 20. It was the ideal tune-up for an event he will feel he has a strong chance to contend at. On his last visit to Club de Campo, the Spaniard ranked in the top 10 for driving accuracy in three of his four rounds, but the other elements of his game weren’t consistent enough. He has not been able to put together back-to-back positive putting rounds here, but the flashes he has shown at this venue are enough for me to take a chance on the 31-year-old.
Fabrizio Zanotti – Top 20 Finish (Incl. Ties)
It was a shame for Fabrizio Zanotti that he posted a Thursday 70 in last year’s Open de Espana, as nobody was better than the Paraguayan across the next three days but he had too much to do to catch Pavon, who coasted to victory. Zanotti ranked number one in the field for greens in regulation in rounds two and three, before recording a 64 on Sunday to climb in a tie for fourth place. His two previous visits to Madrid had yielded back-to-back 12th-place finishes.
His T30 at Wentworth was the best position he has managed since the Volvo China Open in May, and while he hasn’t shown enough in recent months to suggest he is ready to win or perhaps even creep into the places, a fourth consecutive top 20 at Club de Campo looks well within the realms of possibility.
The United States are seeking their 10th Presidents Cup success on the bounce, and their 13th overall in 15 attempts. It’s a tall order for the Internationals to end that streak, who host at Royal Montreal Golf Club for the second time.
Sungjae Im – Top International Points Scorer
With five wins and two ties from 10 Presidents Cup matches, Sungjae Im boasts the most impressive record of any International player on this year’s team. More than half of their representatives have only played at one Presidents Cup or fewer, so the Korean will be considered one of the leaders on Mike Weir’s side.
Im has won his Sunday singles contest in both appearances at this competition, defeating Gary Woodland 4&3 in 2019, before winning a close battle with Cameron Young 1UP two years ago. The world number 21 ended the FedEx Cup playoffs in fine form, registering a T11 at the BMW Championship, and then shot the sixth-best 72-hole score from a 30-man field at the Tour Championship.
